Brasby presents 'Bible as Literature' at sack lunch

By Katie Collins Brush News-Tribune Staff Writer

Posted:
03/05/2013 04:00:00 PM MST

Morgan County resident Kathy Brasby, a journalist and writer who earned her Masters degree in Theology, brought her passion for literature and the Bible to a sizeable audience who filled the Carnegie Room at the East Morgan County Library for the Brush Museum's March sack lunch program on Friday, March 1. (Katie Collins/News-Tribune)

“The Bible is a beautiful literary text and uses a wealth of literary tools to provide deeper meaning,” noted Kathy Brasby to a large crowd that gathered at the East Morgan County Library in Brush for the Brush Museum’s March Sack Lunch program. Brasby, a journalist, writer and speaker who hails from Morgan County, had earned a Bachelor’s degree in English before taking her passion for theology to new heights while earning a Master’s degree in Theological Studies which proved a great forum for meshing her love for writing and for biblical studies. She shared her knowledge of biblical literature with a group who gathered for the monthly sack lunch program on Friday, March 1, presenting ways in which to enjoy this ‘book of books’ from a literary perspective. According to Brasby, the Bible provides meaning and substance for many, whether enjoyed for spiritual or cultural reasons and its imagery, references and allusions have had a profound influence on western civilization. “Even if all copies of the Bible were somehow destroyed,” said Brasby, “we would still have a nearly complete text at our disposal which we could draw from the countless times it has been quoted in other literature.”The Bible is very unique in terms of sacred texts as it projects meaning for readers through story, rather than lists of rules, regulations and proverbs, making it much more approachable to readers in and of any age. Brasby opened her discussion with a quote from C.

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S. Lewis’ ‘Reflections on the Psalms’, where he states, “There is a . . . sense in which the Bible, since it is after all literature, cannot properly be read except as literature; and the different parts of it as the different sorts of literature they are.”Brasby then introduced the audience to ways in which readers can approach biblical readings through literary device. For literary scholars, literature must touch on three points including portraying the human experience, interpreting and giving meaning to human experience and survive as an art form. “The style of expression in a piece of literature, it’s skillful technique and beauty, may be as significant as the content of a work,” said Brasby. She gave as an example the story of Cain and Able, which holds within its depths conditions and emotions of the human experience from sibling rivalry, domestic violence and remorse to feelings of guilt, retribution and consequence. It can, in essence, be thought of just as a crime story complete with the introduction of a criminal, listing of motive and ultimate punishment. Most importantly, readers can ultimately draw meaning in their own lives from the tale. Brasby also touched on literary tools often found in biblical literature, including two main genres found in the Bible including that of the narrative and of poetry. In his work entitled, ‘Stories of God’, author John Shea wrote that, “We turn our pain into narratives so we can bear it.” Brasby reiterated the sentiment, saying, “We relive our lives in stories and one of the most magnificent things about the Bible is that the stories connect with us through time.”From settings that hold both symbolic meaning and literal, such as the Garden of Eden and Jonah’s Whale, to an investigation of plots and characters like David, the King of Israel, Samson, Goliath and Jezebel, Brasby also took her audience on a virtual tour of biblical storytelling, noting the ways in which the Bible uses dialogue expertly to describe characters and their motives. Imagery is also a salient part of biblical writing and the audience on hand was delighted to participate in noting famous idioms from the Bible used even today such as “in the lion’s den”, “the prodigal son returns” and “salt of the earth”. Metaphors such as “The Lord is my shepherd” and personifications such as “Let the rocks cry out” were all investigated during the program, presenting a different angle on which to appreciate the texts. The next edition of the Brush Area Museum’s monthly sack lunch program will hit the East Morgan County Library in Brush on Friday, April 5 at 12 noon, where Rich and Cindy Biren will explore a recent trip to Nome, Alaska with participants.

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